Michigan phone ban bill in schools is back for consideration, with changes

School phone ban bill is back for vote - this time with changes

The state lawmaker behind the bill says some exceptions - like for school emergencies has been baked into the new version.

FOX 2 - Lansing lawmakers shot down a plan to limit cell phones in schools earlier this week. 

The backstory:

The Michigan House killed the legislation to ban cell phones in schools, much to the chagrin of the administrators and teachers and some parents.

But a couple days later, they are taking another look.

State Rep. Mark Tisdale (R-Oakland County) has been working on this issue since June, 2023. Now he says he's rewritten the legislation, and calling a "bell-to-bell ban."

All of which means when the bell rings in the morning, you take your cell phone, and you put it in the box, and you leave it alone.

When the bell rings to let you out of school, you go back to the box, pick up the phone and life goes on.

The question is, can he get the votes? Tisdale thinks he can. He also added a new provision - emergency usage in case of an active shooter or emergency alert.

"In the event of an emergency at the school, as long as the use of the cell phone doesn't interfere with the school's protocol or first responder activities, students would be allowed to use their their smartphones at that time," Tisdale said.

Tisdale then cited encouraging statistics from the Avon Middle School in Oakland County.

"At the end of the first year, there was a 68% reduction in fights and 80% reduction in disciplinary referrals for counselors and a 100% reduction in assaults on teachers," he said.

The question is, can he get to 56 votes? He says he can, adding he feels good about this despite the defeat that he wasn't expecting last week.

Schools are also dealing with something else - budgetary questions. Districts usually know how much money they're getting from the state, but Michigan lawmakers have yet to pass the state budget.